The lesser devil ray (''Mobula hypostoma'') is a species of
devil ray in the family
Mobulidae.
Habitat
These rays live in shallow, warm waters and can be found in shoals of up to 40 individuals, although more often ranging between 2 and 10.
They occur along the coasts of the western Atlantic, from
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
to northern
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
The related ''
Mobula rochebrunei
The lesser devil ray (''Mobula hypostoma'') is a species of devil ray in the family Mobulidae.
Habitat
These rays live in shallow, warm waters and can be found in shoals of up to 40 individuals, although more often ranging between 2 and 10.
...
'' has occasionally been recovered as a junior synonym of ''M. hypostoma'', extending the species' range to the eastern Atlantic.
[White, W.T., Corrigan, S., Yang, S., Henderson, A.C., Bazinet, A.L., Swofford, D.L. and Naylor, G.J.P. 2017. Phylogeny of the manta and devilrays (Chondrichthyes, mobulidae) with an updated taxonomic arrangement for the family. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 182(1): 50-75. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx018.]
Diet
They mostly feed on zooplankton such as small crustaceans, although they can occasionally eat schooling fish, using their cephalic horns to funnel prey into their mouth.
Description
Lesser devil rays are relatively small, with a maximum width of about . They have forward-facing cephalic horns, while their long spineless tails distinguish them from their relatives ''
M. mobular''.
Dorsal coloration varies from light brown to black, although some specimens have been reported as blue.
Individuals sometimes possess a dark grey collar between their spiracles.
References
*
*
*
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4548397
lesser devil ray
Fish of the Western Atlantic
Fish of the Dominican Republic
Vulnerable fish
lesser devil ray